Awkward Sorrows
Eclectic acoustic trio. Dobro. Mandolin. Guitar. Harmony. Folk. Country. Rock. Bluegrass.
Mostly original. Select covers. Life stories. Truth & lies.
Awkward Sorrows is a dynamic acousitc trio from Minneapolis, MN. We rock, we croon, we groove. We're balladeers, twangers and storytellers.
We’re recording, and we promise our first studio recording will be coming in 2013. Watch this space for updates!
Upcoming Shows
August 22 • Augsburg Park • 7145 Wentworth Ave. S • Richfield, MN • 7 - 8:30 pm • Bring a blanket or chair
September 7 • Harriet Brewing • 3036 Minnehaha Ave • Minneapolis, MN • 7-8:30 pm with The Pistol Whippin Party Penguins
September 21 • Private wedding
November 15 • Cajun Potluck • 5936 Lexington Ave N • Shoreview, MN • 7 - 9 pm • Best Cajun food in the Twin Cities
Contact Us
info@awkwardsorrows.com • 612-801-4660
Preview a track from our upcoming album.
Seems today, I lost everything I've got...
The outdoor temp may have been below zero, but it was warm and toasty at Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis on 1/22/13. Here's a song from that show.
We played some music while we had our pictures taken. It was a lot of fun. Watch and enjoy.
“...he saw a new way of measuring our jerky hopes and graceful rogueries and awkward sorrows...”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Last Tycoon
Two songs from a benefit performance in October 2012 at Patrick's Cabaret in Minneapolis.
Awkward Sorrows, left to right: Bill Geezy, Jim Nee, Rob Coleman.
About Us
We play bluegrass instruments, but we play what we like. If you come to see us, you’ll hear a lot of originals, some bluegrass and folk standards, a little George Jones or Hank Williams, and maybe even some Rolling Stones or Elvis Costello. Two songwriters and two lead vocalists mix it up and keep us sounding fresh, song after song. To what musical genre do we belong? Progressive acoustic, indie folk, Americana, country, bluegrass? Labeling is someone else’s job. We just play music we enjoy and hope you will like it too.
Bill Geezy is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who pens sometimes sentimental, occasionally tragic and always tuneful stories in song. As a member of house bluegrass band Stoney Lonesome, he played on Garrison Keillor’s long-running public radio show A Prairie Home Companion. With his band The Promise Breakers, Bill released the critically-acclaimed CD The Orchid Lounge in 2003. He later performed and recorded as Bill Geezy and The New Deal, which eventually morphed into an acoustic six-piece folkgrassy group with both Rob and Jim as members. Bill’s voice is warm and expressive, with a more than a hint of tar, gravel and smoke. The man can sell songs all night long. Playing the well-worn Hoffman dreadnought acoustic guitar he received as a high-school graduation gift, Bill’s solid, steady and fluid rhythm lays down the foundation of our sound.
His first instrument was mandolin, but Rob Coleman switched-on his synthesizer to play keyboards with regionally-popular reggae/soca band Shangoya in the 1980s. Shangoya recorded an album in 1984 with Prince engineer Bobby Z. Red Pants Jam included Rob’s original instrumental “Tribute,” which enjoyed both local and national airplay. Returning to his roots, Rob formed bluegrass band The Acoustic Company in 2005, and later joined Bill Geezy and The New Deal. He soaked up a lot of rhythm in his reggae years, and it really shows in the way his mandolin rhythm locks in with Bill’s guitar to propel the band. Like Bill, Rob is an accomplished songwriter. Awkward Sorrows provides the opportunity to share his vast catalog of vibrant verses and catchy choruses with you. Rob enjoys singing lead on his originals, but he’s happiest aiming his high lonesome tenor above Bill’s sonorous baritone.
Sunshine state native Jim Nee was a mainstay of the central Florida music scene for many years. His electric guitar and pedal steel were featured live and on recordings with a number of notable acts playing rock, country and R&B. After straying north to Minnesota in 1999, Jim performed and recorded with country-soul band The Copperheads, and later with Bill Geezy and The New Deal. Jim started playing the Dobro® resonator slide guitar in 2007, and now plays it exclusively. He also plays it tastefully and soulfully, alternating between plaintive restraint and wild abandon. Strangely enough, his facial expression never changes.